Dokapon: Monster Hunter (Game Boy Advance) review

"I liked the title of the game so I got it. It turned out to be a mediocre RPG but still decent and I like it... after all.
"

I liked the title of the game so I got it. It turned out to be a mediocre RPG but still decent and I like it... after all.

Story : -7/10

Typical story line. You are a young boy with wild hair, you just turned 11 years old. You are now the age of becoming an adventurer so you go on an adventure. Hopefully, you meet some other adventurers on your quest which expands a little the story.

Graphics/Sounds : -8/10

The graphics are really great when it comes to the hometown of our young adventurer. This is the only town of the entire game and the town looks really good with plenty of little details outside and inside the houses. The characters all look great too and so does the enemies. The problem is that the levels are very bland. They look fine, yes they actually look very fine but the thing is that when you enter a level, you'll look at the same graphics for 1 hour. If level xyz is a tropical island with palm trees and such, the entire level will look the same exact thing. From start to end. In fact, it's always just a road with trees each side or a castle with many paths. Boring for the eyes, looking good but boring. The music is ok too but you'll often be listening to bland songs that repeat over and over. The sounds are weird too.

GamePlay : -7/10

Dokapon is a dungeon crawler. You know, wandering around in a bland and boring dungeon, fighting monsters, collecting items and yawning. By telling you that, you've just learned exactly what the entire game is and nothing more. But I'll be a little more detailed. You play as a young adventurer called ''Hero'' but you can change his name. You start in a town (the only town of the game) where you can do everything you do in a normal RPG. There's a church, to revive you if you die, your house to stock your items, shops to buy weapons and shields and other houses to talk with people and find hidden items. Then, you start your adventure. You go in dungeons, find treasure chests, fight monsters to gain experience points and level-up. There are 6 dungeons in total in Dokapon. The first time it's fun but then it becomes boring as the dungeons become longer. You're at Floor 20 and wondering when this dungeon will finally end ! Anyway, the themes of the dungeons are cool; a mine, a forest/temple, a circus, an island, a haunted lighthouse and a mountain/ruins. You choose the dungeons from a map but you must do them in order. What is cool about Dokapon are the features they added to the game. You have no party members but you can catch monsters and train them to be your partner. You just fought a really cool looking monster ? Catch him and he'll fight with you ! You can stock your monsters in a ranch in the town. Another cool aspect are the albums. Every different monster you see will be added to your album with a picture and description. There are TONS of monsters in the game ! All different and cool looking. You can also do the same thing with the weapons and shields. Every stats about a weapon or shield is recorded in your album along with a pic of the weapon/shield. There are over 100 weapons/shields to collect and you can even mix weapons together to make new weapons ! And I tell you, the weapons are so awesome looking ! When your character fights, you always see the weapon and shield he currently has in his hands. So cool ! That's why I like the game. Sadly, the combats are a real disappointment. The entire fight is based on luck, not on strategy. You start by choosing a card (you don't know what's on the card before choosing it) and then you see if you got Attack of Defense. If you have Attack, you start the fight by attacking (this is best). If you have Defense (bad luck), the enemy starts the fight. Then, your weapon/shield has 3 attacks, Rock, Paper or Scissor. If you pick Paper and the enemy picks Rock, your attack will work fine. If you pick Paper and the enemy picks Scissor, your attack will fail. And you don't know what the enemy will choose before choosing yours ! A fight based only on luck.. no.. not for me. When you level-up, you can have new attacks but only 3 at a time so choose carefully. It's easy to die in Dokapon so this game is quite frustrating. When you die, you loose the weapon and shield you where carrying so that's really frustrating. You have to start back the dungeon and try to re find your weapons... but when you find a chest, a roulette then starts and you get the item inside the chest randomly, by luck or bad luck. I tell you, this game is as frustrating as... there's nothing more frustrating than this game.

Replay Value : -8/10

Yes, there is actually a very entertaining replay value. Well, that was for me. You see, I like collecting things in a game and the possibility of collecting all 150 weapons and shields and completing the monster album seemed very attractive and kept me hooked on the game. All weapons and shields all look different and are very cool looking so I guess I'll try to complete these albums and see all the designs of the weapons/shields.

Overall : -7/10

I hated wandering around the dungeons but loved collecting and completing the albums. You like battling monsters and like the luck factor of the game ? You don't like complicated RPGs ? Dokapon may be a great purchase.

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